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Six Former ECHL Officials Working Stanley Cup Playoffs

April 19, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL has four former referees and three former linesmen working in the National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The referees are Mike Leggo, Wes McCauley, Dan O'Rourke and Kevin Pollock while the linesmen are Steve Barton, Jay Sharrers and Tim Nowak, who in 2003 became the first ECHL official to work in the Stanley Cup Finals.

In addition to the seven officials working in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there were eight other former ECHL officials who worked in the NHL in 2006-07 with referees Chris Ciamaga, Dean Morton, Brian Pochmara, Chris Rooney, Justin St. Pierre, Ian Walsh and Dean Warren and linesman Brian Mach.

In addition to the on-ice officials, the ECHL has 34 former players and six former coaches in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 15 of the 16 teams having representation from the Premier 'AA' Hockey League. It is the second season in a row that there have been over 30 former ECHL players in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the fourth consecutive time that more than 25 players with ECHL experience have been involved in the NHL postseason. It is the third straight time that the ECHL has been represented by six coaches including Calgary head coach Jim Playfair, who was named the ECHL Coach of the Year in 1994-95.

The ECHL has been represented on the last six Stanley Cup champions including 2006 by Carolina head coach Peter Laviolette, who became the first ECHL coach to hoist the coveted trophy, Chad LaRose, Andrew Hutchinson and assistant athletic trainer Chris Stewart.

There are 11 former ECHL players whose names are on the Stanley Cup: Chad LaRose and Andrew Hutchinson (Carolina - 2006), Ruslan Fedotenko, Nolan Pratt and Andre Roy (Tampa Bay - 2004), Corey Schwab (New Jersey - 2003), Manny Legace (Detroit - 2002), David Aebischer and Nolan Pratt (Colorado - 2001), Krzysztof Oliwa (New Jersey - 2000) and Kevin Dean (New Jersey - 1995). Pratt is the only ECHL player to have his name engraved twice on the Stanley Cup.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League, the ECHL has affiliations with 25 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League in 2006-07, marking the 10th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.

There have been 329 players who have played in the NHL after the ECHL and 184 who have made their debut in the last five seasons. There were a record 47 former ECHL players who played their first NHL game in 2005-06, and there were 112 former ECHL players who played in the NHL a year ago, including five goaltenders who played in both the ECHL and the NHL.

There have been over 50 former ECHL players on NHL opening-day rosters each of the past four seasons including a record 57 players this season. In each of the past five seasons there have been more than 100 players on NHL contracts who have played in the ECHL including 130 in 2006-07.

There have been 26 ECHL players who have played their first NHL game this season: former Greenville and Richmond right wing Krys Barch (Dallas on Jan. 15), former Mississippi defenseman Sheldon Brookbank (Nashville on Feb. 6), former Reading goaltender Barry Brust (Los Angeles on Nov. 30), former Wheeling left wing Daniel Carcillo (Phoenix on Mar. 3), former Dayton left wing Riley Cote (Philadelphia on Mar. 24), former Toledo center Matt Ellis (Detroit on Dec. 18), former Wheeling defenseman Drew Fata (New York Islanders on Feb. 4), former Reading defenseman Jeff Finger (Colorado on Feb. 20), former Bakersfield and Reading goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji (Los Angeles on Jan. 13), former Charlotte defenseman Daniel Girardi (New York Rangers on Jan. 27), former Long Beach goaltender Jaroslav Halak (Montreal on Feb. 18), former Trenton goaltender Martin Houle (Philadelphia on Dec. 13), former Alaska left wing D.J. King (St. Louis on Oct. 5), former Wheeling defenseman David Koci (Chicago on Mar. 10), former Texas center Kamil Kreps (Florida on Jan. 7), former Florida center Drew Larman (Florida on Nov. 13), former Florida defenseman Martin Lojek (Florida on Feb. 3), former Toledo goaltender Joey MacDonald (Detroit on Oct. 19), former Pensacola center Kris Newbury (Toronto on Dec. 23), former South Carolina and Reading center Rich Peverley (Nashville on Mar. 4), former Augusta right wing Pierre Parenteau (Chicago on Feb. 7), former Columbia right wing Jesse Schultz (Vancouver on Nov. 28), former ECHL All-Star goaltender Mike Smith (Dallas on Oct. 21), former Reading left wing Shay Stephenson (Los Angeles on Mar. 1), former Augusta goaltender Mike Wall (Anaheim on Nov. 26) and former Stockton defenseman Bryan Young (Edmonton on Mar. 9).

In 2006-07 there were two NHL head coaches (Peter Laviolette and Jim Playfair) and nine NHL assistant coaches with an ECHL background.

ECHL

The league officially changed its name to ECHL on May 19, 2003.

The ECHL has affiliations with 24 of the 27 teams in the American Hockey League in 2006-07 and for the past 17 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup champion. The ECHL has had more players called up to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined each of the past four seasons with 1,646 call ups involving almost 1,000 players.

Further information on the ECHL is available from its website at ECHL.com.

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